Rebecca Wirfs-Brock

Rebecca is an object design pioneer who invented the set of design practices known as Responsibility-Driven Design (RDD). She is lead author of two software design books and design columnist for IEEE Software. By accident she started the x-Driven Design meme (TDD, DDD, BDD…).

Although best known for software design, she is has a passion simply expressing complex requirements and effectively communicating software architecture.

You can find her design columns, papers and presentations at www.wirfs-brock.com/Resources.html and her blog at www.wirfs-brock.com/blog/.

Rebecca helps teams hone their design, architecture and thinking skills, manage and reduce technical debt, refactor their code, and adequately address architecture risks. She frequently speaks at conferences and won the 2015 New Directions Presentation Award for Shifting from Quality Assurance to Agile Quality, at SATURN 2015.

Rebecca is program director of the Agile Alliance’s Experience Reports Initiative. She serves on the advisory board for IEEE Software and on The Hillside Group board. Recently she has written patterns about sustainable architecture, agile software quality, managing a complex backlog, and adaptive systems architectures.

Keynote:What Agile Software Development needs from Architects

Can architects and agile coexist? Why not just keep code clean and tested, get rid of architects, and let developers take on their work? In a rush to deliver functionality, architecture can be slighted and risks ignored – unless someone advocates for architecture. Sustainable development requires ongoing architecture attention, stewardship and visibility. Agile projects need architects. Especially when there are new technologies, intricate dependencies and shifting priorities. Enough though our ways of working may change, we have much to offer.